Shade-roller.



C.- W. KIRSCH GI J. A. HENRY.

SHADE ROLLER.

APPLICATION FILED IAN. 8. I9I5.

Patented Sept. 18, 1917.

II. .IIIIIIIIIII .IIIIIIILI UNITED STATES PATENT oEEroE.

CHARLES W. KIRSCH AND JAMES A. HENRY, OF STURGIS, MICHIGAN, ASSIGNORS T0` KDRISCE MANUFACTURING CO., OF STURGIS, MICHIGAN, A CORPORATION 0F MICHIGAN.

SHADE-ROLLER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application led January 8, 1915. Serial No. 1,237.

T0 all whom t may concern:

Be it known that we, CHARLES W. KrRscH and JAMES A. HENRY, of Sturgis, St. Joseph county, Michigan, citizens of the United States, have invented certain new and useful Improvementsin Shade-Rollers; and we do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and ex'act description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

The invention has for its obj ect to provide an improved shade roller and consists in the features of construction and combinations of parts hereinafter fully described and particularly claimed.

rlhe present invention has for one of its particular objects to provide a shade roller equipped with means for readily and Securely attaching a shade thereto, and in which the shade attaching means are so positioned relatively to the means for holding the shade roller against rotation by the spring in the direction to roll up the curtain thereon as to prevent said shade roller from assuming a position when the curtain is completely unwound therefrom wherein reverse or winding up rotation of said shade roller is prevented, that is to say, the said shade fastening means and the ratchet or similar means employed for holding the shade roller against rotation by the spring are relatively so arranged that when the shade is pulled down to the limit of its movement the said ratchet or similar means will be incapable of interengagement to prevent a partial reverse motion of the said roller to an extent suflicient to enable the shade to be manipulated to cause the same to be rewound without necessitating the removal of the shade roller from its brackets.

Another object of the invention is to provide a shade roller of sheetmetal equipped with simple and efficient means. for fastening a shade thereto and in which the said shade-securing means perform another function as a stop for preventing rotation of a spring-engaging member disposed within the said roller.

Another object of the invention is to provide simple and eicient means for securing the shade roller spring to the shaft therenef against relative rotation and longitudinal movement thereon.

Another object of the invention is to provide a shade roller equipped with a cap containing the ratchet or similar means for preventing rotation of the roller on said shaft by said spring .and which serves to hold the shaft against longitudinal movement relatively to the roller and is at the same time easily and quickly secured to the `roller thereby rendering assemblage of the device a matter of great ease and simplicity.

Another object of the invention is to provide simple and eiicient means for effecting .an adjustment in length of the shade roller to enable the same to be mounted in the shade roller brackets in the event that the latter shall be mounted with some degree of inaccuracy on the Window easing, Awithout necessitating removal Iand remounting of said brackets.

In the accompanying drawings illustrating a suitable embodiment of the invention:

Figure 1 is a view in central longitudinal section of a shade roller embodying our invention, the same being broken away at intervalsand parts in the interior thereof being shown in elevation.

Fig. -2- is a fragmentary view similar to Fig. -ltaken at right angles tothe latter.

Fig. #3- is a view similar to Fig. -l, of the opposite end portion of the shade roller illustrating a means for effecting an adjustment of the pivot for said end to accommodate the same to variations in position of the bracket for receiving said pivot.

Fig. -4- is a fragmentary detail view similar to Fig. -3- showing another means for effecting an adjustment of said pivot.

Fig. -5 is a view in elevation of the ratchet end of the shade roller.

Figs. -6-, -7- and -8- are transverse sections on the lines 6--6, 7-7 and 8 8 respectively, of Fig. -1-.

Fig. -9- is a view in elevation of the inner cap member of the roller.

Fig. 10- is a fragmentary view in side elevation of the cap end of the roller.

Fig. -11- is a view in elevation of the two interitting caps at the cap end of the roller showing the same in relative position for being secured upon the end of the shade roller.

The said roller comprises the cylinder 1 preferably made of a strip of sheet metal able a wire`5 to pass therebetween. The said wire 5 is adapted to pass through'similarly off-set portions in the end of the window shade for removably securing the latter to said roller as indicated in Figs. -1- and -7-.

The said cylinder l is provided at one end with a pivot pin 6 which may be secured. thereto in any one of several Ways, as for example, by means of the cap 7 shown in Fig. -1- which receives one end of the cylinder 1 and from the center of the end wall of which said pin 6 projects, the same being secured to said cap in any suitable manner. It is frequently desirable to render the pivot pin 6 'adjustable longitudinally relatively to the roller and this may be accomplished in several ways. Thus, as shown in Fig. -3- the said end of the roller receives a wooden plug 8 which has a square central opening and receives the U-shaped sheet metal member 9 having bifurcated arms, the outer edges of which are serrated, as shown in detail in Fig. 3, said member 9 and its arms being sufiiciently yielding to enable the same to be readily driven into the vplug 8 and to be adjusted in position longitudinally relatively thereto to adjust the position of the pin 10 relatively to the roller. The said pivot may also be rendered adjustable, as shown in Fig. --4- in which the pivot pin 11 is carried by a wooden plug 12 which enters one end of the roller and fits suiiiciently snugly therein to enable the same to be adjusted by partly withdrawing or driving the same farther inwardly.

The sheet metal roller 1 may so far as the operating mechanism is concerned, be replaced by a Wooden roller of suitable construction such, for example, as is shown in my copending applications, Serial No. 700,650 and Serial No. 818,059. The use of the sheet metal roller being preferred, however, we will now proceed to describe further improvements in connection with the use of said roller.

' At the end opposite that receiving the cap 7 the said roller 1 receives two telescopically interiitting caps 13 and 14, the roller being adapted to he inserted telescopically into the inner cap 13. The said caps 13 and 14 are provided in their end walls with slots or openings 15 and 16 adapted to register with each other and through which tongues or projections 17 at the end of the roller 1 are adapted to pass; said tongues being bent over exteriorly of and preferably upon the annular flange of the cap 14, as shown in Fig. -2-. v In the event that a Wooden roller is used the said slots or similar openings may be employed for the passage of nails or screws for securing said caps thereto.

The end wall of the cap 13 is perfectly fiat and the opening 16 therein is substantially similar to a key-hole slot, the smaller portion 18 thereof bei 0" disposed concentric With said end wall an the larger portion eccentric thereof.

The cap 14 is provided with a central drawn portion or boss 19 having a central opening in its end wall and which constitutes a cup or recess which communicates with two radial channels 20 in which plungers 21 are radially movable. The outer end walls of said. channels are in the shape of tongues 22 which are bent to close the open ends of said channels after the said plungers 21 have been inserted in the latter, the end Wall of the inner cap constituting the fourth wall of each channel 20.

The shaft 23 of the roller 1 is provided with an enlarged head 24 which is tapered at its inner end and is provided at its outer end portion with a plurality of annular grooves 25 and 26, and said shaft terminates at its outer end in a portion 27 of smaller diameter provided with two dialnetrically oppositely disposed transverse grooves or flattened portions 28 which are adapted to engage in the slot of a curtain rod bracket to hold said shaft against rotation relatively to said bracket in the usual and well known manner. That portion of the shaft which is bordered by the reduced end portion 27 and the annular groove 26 constitutes an annular formation which is adapted to be received iin the cup or recessof the boss 19 and is confined between the end wall of said boss and the central portion of the plate 13, s'aid annular formation 29 being adapted to pa through the enlarged portion of the opening 16 in said plate 13 and the portion of said shaft constituting the bottom of the annular groove 26 `being received in the contracted portion 18 of said opening. The said portion 29 of said shaft is of less length than the depth of said boss 19 and between the same and the .end wall of the boss 19 a washer 30 of fiber or the like is disposed which serves to cause the shade roller to rotate more noiselessly on the shaft in the absence of lubrication than if metal were used.

The said head 24 of said shaft 23 is provided with two diametrically opposed longitudinal grooves 31, each having one wall 32 substantially radially Idisposed while the other wall extends substantially transversely to the wall 32. The said plungers 21 are adapted to engage in said grooves 31 in the` annular formation 29 in said shaft and said walls 32 of said grooves are adapted to engage said plungers 21 v alternately to prevent the roller from being rotated in one direction. The said rwalls 32 are vertically disposed but only the said wall of the upper groove 31 is adapted to be engaged by said plunger 21 to perform the aforesaid function. For convenience, however, the said grooves 31 extend the entire length of the enlarged portion 24 of the plunger and to the bottom of the annular grooves 25 and 26. The spring 33 is of smaller diameter than the enlarged portion 24 of the head, but is adaptedtg receive the latter and is expanded thereby so as to very closely vand snugly embrace the same. The end coils of said spring 33 are adapted to engage in the annular groove 25 by contraction therein and will serve in addition to the frictional engagement between the spring and said enlarged portion 24 to prevent longitudinal movement of the spring relatively to the head 24 whereby the same might become disengaged. In order to prevent a relative rotation between the spring 33 and the said head 24 one o; more ofthe coils of said spring are bent inwardly to engage in said grooves 31, as indicated in Fig. 7.

The said shaft 23 passes through said spring 33 and at its inner end receives the hub of a fin-plate 35 which is rotatable on said shaft, the total width of said fin-plate being equal to the inner diameter of the said cylinder 1 and said ns thereof being adapted to engage the longitudinal ribs 2 and 3 to limit its rotation relatively to said roller to an arc less than one hundred and eighty degrees. The inner end 'of the spring is suitably secured to said fin plate 35 by passing the end of said spring through an opening in said n plate and bending the sameA over as indicated in Fig. -8. x

In operation the shaft 23 is held against rotation by engagement with the slotted` shade roller bracket in the usual manner and in unwinding the shade'from the roller the latter is rotated against the action of said spring 33. The latter will serve, upon the release of the shade, to rotate the roller 1 in a direction to wind up the shade. This action is, however, controlled by the plungers 21 and the grooves 31 in a well-known manner so that the shade may be supported in any desired position between the limits of its movement.

The aforesaid several improvements not 'thereto and removal therefrom of the shade for purposes of cleaning, or in the event of any repair to the roller being necessary. The roller is also easily taken apart, for the last-named purpose, and reassembled.

We claim as our invention:

1. A shade roller comprising' a hollow cylindrical metal member provided with 4a longitudinal row of deformed portions providing inwardly extending projections, an inwardly extendin longitudinal rib `arranged diametrical y opposite to said projections, a cap for one end of said member,

a shaft rotatably mountedv in said cap and held therein against relative longitudinal movement, a fin-plate rotatably mounted 0D the inner` end of said shaft, said fin-plate longitudinally movable in said member and held against rotation therein by said rib and said projections, and a helical spring carried by said shaft and rigidly secured thereto at one end, the other end thereof secured to said fin-plate, said deformed portions providing a longitudinally disposed channel for` receiving a shade-securing member.

2. A metallic shade roller comprising a hollow cylindrical member provided at one side with a longitudinally extending rib and at the diametrically opposite side with a longitudinal row of inwardly formed portions, providing with the intermediate portions of the cylinder a longitudinally extending channel for receiving a shadesecuring member, a cap rigidly secured on one end of said roller, a shaft rotatably mounted in said cap, a iin-plate rotatably mounted on the inner end of said shaft, said fin-plate longitudinally movable in said said rib and said longitudinal row ofv .in-Y- wardly extending projections and a helical springcarried by said shaft and rigidly secured thereto at one end, and otherend thereof secured to said fin-plate.

3. In a shade-roller, a hollow roller,'a cap for one end thereof having a central recess provided, with a central opening in its end wall, a shaft having a portion projecting through said opening and a portion of larger diameter fitting said recess, there being an annular groove inwardly of the lastnamed portion of said shaft, a member tting within the cap and having an opening for the passage of said shaft, a portion of said opening eccentric to said member being of large diameter to permit the passage therethrough of the enlarged portion ofsa1d shaft and a portion of said opening concentric with said member adapted to receive the portion of said shaft rendered smaller by said groove, the enlarged portion of said shaft adapted to be confined between said member and the recess in said cap, and means for securing said cap and said member rigidly to each other and said roller.

4. In a shade-roller, a hollow roller, a

4shaft and a portion of said opening concentric with said member adapted to receive the portion of said shaft rendered smaller by said groove, the enlarged portion of said shaft adapted to be confined between said member and the recess in said cap, and means for securing said cap and said member rigidly to each other and said roller, comprising projections on said roller passing through alined slots in said member and said cap and bent over exteriorly of the latter.

5. In ashade-roller, a hollow roller, a cap for one end thereof having a central recess provided with a central opening in its end Wall, a shaft having a portion projecting through said opening and a portion of larger diameter fitting said recess, there being an vannular groove inwardly of the last-named portion of said shaft, a member iitting within the cap and having an opening for the passage of said shaft, a portion of said opening eccentric to said member being of large diameter to permit the passage therethrough of the enlarged portion of said shaft and av portion of said opening concentric with said member adapted to receive the portion of said shaft rendered smaller by said groove, the enlarged portion of said shaft adapted to be confined between said member and the recess in said cap, and means for securing said cap and said member rigidly to each other and said roller, comprising projections on ,said roller passing through alined slots in said member and said cap and bent over eXteriorly of the latter, one of said projections passing through the enlarged portion of the opening in said member and a slot in said cap.

6. In a shade-roller, a hollow roller, a cap for one end thereof having a central recess provided with a central opening in its end wall, a shaft provided between its ends with an annular formation adapted to be received in said recess in said cap, a member fitting within the cap and provided with an opening having a contracted portion concentric with said member for receiving said shaft and an eccentric enlarged portion for the passage of said annular formation on said shaft, said formation adapted to be held in said recess in said cap by said member, and means for rigidly securing said member and said cap to each other and said roller.

In testimony whereof we have signed our names 1n presence of two subscribing witnesses.

CHARLES W. KIRSCH. JAMES A. HENRY.

Witnesses:

M. M. Bom, E. H. HoLLmN. 

